The Carrie Diaries “Pilot” Review

AnnaSophia Robb shines in this role. And the role of Carrie Bradshaw … well, those are some hard shoes to fill. Quite literally. And it just so happens that Robb has stepped into this part and instantly feels flawless. I truly believe this is going to stand the test of time, and I hope to hear about if/when Sarah Jessica Parker watches an episode.

The Carrie Diaries fashion

Eric Daman kept the 80’s fashion true to what it was, but still transformed it into something appealing for modern girls. Only a skilled stylist can do that.

Little sisters, ugh

Dorritt (Stefania Owen) is so awful, and such the ultimate little sister archetype. Do you have one, too? The disaffected, “I’m way too cool for you, and you always get preferential treatment!” type?

And just like we saw in this episode, these little sister types tend to hoard stashes of your things all in one odd place. For me, it wasn’t the inside of a teddy bear. No, my sister would steal all sorts of little tokens (jewelry, makeup, anything – she had one of my old diaries, once) and shove them in her American Girl closet drawers. To see that pile of stolen treasure is really upsetting!

Similarities

People will inevitably ask how The Carrie Diaries compares to Sex and the City. For those wanting some blunt bullet points: Carrie loves to put her name one everything still – from her purse to her “C” necklace. There’s also Carrie writing at her desk, and how we see her outside of her window. Carrie is still so caring about her friends and family.

80’s pop

I love the references. And the sets. And I know there will be more references, but in the pilot we got Rob Lowe and Madonna.

For the older crowd, it’s great to remember things. For the younger crowd, they’ve never seen half this stuff – it’s like a whole new culture! Oh God, remember when there was only one phone and if you got a busy signal you were doomed? Walkmens! For cassette tapes, even? And pay phones?Do you remember pay phones? Granted, I never had a novelty phone like Mouse (Ellen Wong), but I did have a Snoopy lamp when I was really young!